Garment hanger bin



Nov.30,1948. BURT 2,454,858

' GARMENT HANGER BIN Filed Dec. 29, 1945 3151 /6 EIELE Z9" 29 /3 /7 /6'I g j/a 22 INVENTOR. JOHN C'- BUET BZ M j Patented Nov. 30, 19482,354,858; GARMENT HANGEB'BIN John 6;- Burt, @akland, Calif.

Application Decemben- -29, l9 ifi serjal No, 63 8,QQ6

5'Glaims. 1..

This invention relates to bins for the storage, inv orderly arrangement,of devices in the nature of garment hangers.

An: object of the invention is to providea bin for thepurpose describedin which aplurality of large groups of objects such asgarment hangersmay be stored or dispersed in; orderly relationship: and whose designcharacteristics are such, that. successive objects placed in the bin areforcedto assume the aforesaid orderly relationship-with previouslydeposited objects.

Another object of the invention is to provide, ina device; of thecharacter described, means functioning to facilitate the rapid insertionof objects such as garment hangers. into substan-. tially form-fittingstorage compartments pro-. vided therefor in the bin.

A further object of-gthe invention is to provide aunobilebin of thecharacter described which is designed with a low centerof gravity sothat forceful shoves imposedonthe bin in projecting itafor considerabledistances along. afloor, or its. sudden striking of an obstruction.during such. movement, will not; cause the bin. to upset.

Still another obj ect. of the invention is, to provide, in; a. bin.vforthestorage and dispensing; 01"- stacked articles such asgarmenthangers, means pIYOl/idlllg a} JiSuail 1110 10311011 SO thab'jafiljestimate of the numberof articlesv contained in a; giv portion of'the:stack. may be had ndhe s number of articles may be thengrasped-end;-revmoved from the: bin. V

The-invention possesses other objects a11d fea.; turesof advantage, someof which, with the foregoing, will. be-set forth in. the following.defiflripr tion of. the preferred form of theinvention which;

is illustrated in the drawings accompanying. and forming part of thespecification. It is to be; understood; however, that variations in the.show ing made by the said drawingsand description, may beadopted with-inthe scope of theinvention; as -setforth in the claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view: of the bin off invention.

Figure 2 is a viewof the: binpartly in side elevation and partly invertical section. The-sec-. tional portions of the view are takenintheplane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a reduced scale perspective view: of the bin.

Figured is a perspective view of a modified form: of the bin.

In establishments such as clothing stores,

areemployedin; storin handling and delivering M thegarments. Itisusually the case that these" establishments accumulate ala rgereservesupply of hangers to replace those delivered with purchased orreclaimedgarments with the result that orderly storage ofthe hangersuntil they are needed;;plus distribution thereoifto various parts oft'he establishment Where they are required behereo a come seriousproblems which, if handle d in the usual' way can waste considerablevaluable time. The peculiar form of the hangers does not pro;

mota rclerlr t ck ns Q rou ing hereo na pr sidere e uan t Ii -s. suallheprac ice. semble. angseanne.n't-.rec .rrom whichh yar r d when e d d ad ca d orerious pints u e s abm... 'flh s.- o.w v r .n.ot a isfac oince.- t e lu. he cana itror thy. re s nd, nt-bee uinta large I fillX HWIlQ ome or. all. of. th .haneersm st. e cleer d m hei storage la tom k mm o he g rm t It.

s. defini ly, otd si ab eto.stote e dis ac d. or. o her nuse h n rs n n.unsupported. sta k;

forthereason, that, eventually, the hangers will become, disarranged andwill evolve intoa tangled i e. nany en a c n der bl or n a. wok'ngdayvcan; be utilized in theunmofitable pursuits of. separating hangers.from. jumbled; groupathereot or v securing. and, returning hangers figomand to. remote storagelocations and, where; the volurneflof hangers usedinia days time runs, into ithe thousands, these time losses can. becomevery serious matters. I have provided a biri. in; whi one large, numberof; hanger-s may; be. stored inorderlyf-as onandwhich occupies-.2.minimum. Q ecesotha he-he r stee e a waysco venie yt: ha d W d and; vbe. mo edrom ace h ace as he W k. demand ta I r vid a omparativ w th. erably-w od n. bas iott e of hio i se ur lofee -eno ii s .d s tthiczwcodeo ls t Wh e respective ends aremounted. many-suitable mane.nenpivotal casteriwheelsfi. In one form of the invention, sheet membersforming side walls it are.

bottom secured to and rise from therespective sides'of the base 6' andare secured tog-ether along ad= io-inin-g vertical edges by triangularcorner posts H eachofwhich, in its diagonal suriacefacing the centerof't-he base, is-provided with a central n sed ect on. Qi.

vertically-extending groove l2. Secured to and rising from the centerpost I3 whose vertical sides l4 parallel the sides of the base and whoserespective corners are provided with vertically extending notches 16similar to and in planar alignment with the notches i2. Sheet materialpartitions l1 extending diagonally of the base have their vertical edgesengaged in related pairs of the notches l2 and it and divide the spacewithin the side walls 9 into a plurality of triangularlyshapedcompartments it each having a common apex substantially coincident ,withthe vertical centerline of the center post [3. As will be seen in Figure2, the side walls 9, the corner posts H, the partitions ii, and thecenter post 13 each terminate above the base 5 in a common plane.

Means is provided in each of the compartments l8 for maintainingsubstantially vertical alignment in a stack of garment hangers H! whichmay be placed therein. Attached to and rising from a flanged base member2i which is secured in a recess 22, provided in each compartment,located on a line normal to and bisecting the side wall 9 thereof andspaced from the latter a dis tance accommodating and registered with thesupport hook 23 of the hanger I9, is an axially vertical metal or woodenguide rod 24 paralleling the center post i3 and terminating above thelatter and above the upper ends of the side walls and compartmentpartitions. Strips 26 of wood or other material are provided, one ineach compartment being attached to the vertical sides [4 of the centerpost and extending toward the guide rods 24 so as to provide along eachof the latter a comparatively narrow and vertically extended slot 27open at its upper end. and in which the hooks 23 of the hangers may bereceived and are confined. The strips 26 are each coextensive with thcenter post l3 and, if desired, may be tapered adjacent their upperends, as indicated by the curved lines 28, to formed widened enteringends for the slots 2'! soas to facilitate the starting thereinto of thehanger books 23. The form of each compartment I8, and the position ofthe guide rod 24 therein, is such that when a hanger is in engagementwith the guide rod the ends 25 of the hanger bar will enter the oppositecorners of the compartment defined by the side walls 9 and thepartitions I1 and will approach into close proximity with each of themembers. The result is that the hanger will be confined againstsubstantial horizontal movement in the compartment which will functionto retain a plurality of the hangers, which may be placed in thecompartment, in substantial vertical alignment.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated a modified form of the inventiondesigned to afford, under certain circumstances, improved operation ofthe bin. In this structure the essential parts are identical with thosepreviously described and bear similar reference designations. The sidewalls 9 however are each provided with a cut-out or window 3i throughwhich a view may be had into the interior of the compartment so that theuser may instantly know how near depletion is the quantity of hangersstored in the compartment. The windows also permit the user to grasp a'desired number of the hangers and elevate them toward the open upper endof the compartment where they may be removed. The windows also permitthe utilization of measurement scales 32 which will give the user,numerically the quantity of hangers remaining in the compartment andwill enable him to gauge the number of hangers that he may desire toremove as a group from the compartment.

As stated above, the described devices are particularly adapted for usein establishments employing large numbers of garment hangers and lendefficiency of operation to such establishments by effecting the storage,in a minimized volumetric space, of a large quantity of the hangers andby providing for the ready access to such hangers as they are needed.The particular design of bin employed, also tends toward efficiency ofoperation since the weighted bottom itructure of the device provides acomparatively ow center of gravity. This is beneficial in preventingaccidental upsetting of the bin as it is shoved forcibly along the floorof the establishment.

I claim:

1. A portable bin for storing and displaying garment hangers havingopposed ends and a hook member medially of such ends comprising asubstantially horizontal rectangular base, interconnected vertical sidewalls rising from the respective sides of said base, a center postrising vertically from substantially the center of said base, verticalpartitions extending between said center post and the junctions of saidside walls and combining therewith to divide said bin into a pluralityof substantially triangular shaped open top compartments adapted toreceive said garment hangers, a vertical guide rod in each compartmentadapted to be engaged by the hook element of said hangers, and saidguide rod rising from said base being disposed with relation to spacedpoints on said partitions of a compartment adapted to be engaged by saidopposed ends of said garment hanger, said walls and partitions and saidguide rod cooperating in each compartment whereby said hangers in aplurality thereof placed in said compartment are retained in avertically aligned stack and are restrained against substantial relativehorizontal movement with respect to each other and said partitions.

2. A portable bin for storing and displaying garment hangers havingopposed ends and a hook member medially of such ends comprising asubstantially horizontal rectangular base, interconnected vertical sidewalls rising from the respective sides of said base, a center postrising vertically from substantially the center of said base, verticalpartitions extending between said center post and the junctions of saidside walls and combining therewith to divide said bin into a pluralityof compartments substantially triangular shaped with opposing recessestherein adapted to receive said opposed ends of garment hangers, avertical guide rod in each compartment adapted to be engaged by the hookelement of said hangers, vertical strips attached to and coextensivewith said center post, said strips approaching said guide rods andforming between each strip and guide rod a vertically extending open topslot adapted to receive the said hook elements of said hangers, and saidguide rod rising vertically from said base being disposed with relationto said opposing recesses in each compartment adapted to be engaged byend portions of the bar member of said garment hanger, said walls andpartitions and said guide rod cooperating in each compartment wherebysaid hangers in a plurality thereof placed in said compartment areretained in a vertically aligned stack and are restrained againstsubstantial relative horizontal movement with respect to each other andsaid partitions.

3. A portable bin for storing and displaying garment hangers havingopposed ends and a hook member medially of such ends comprising asubstantially horizontal rectangular base, vertical side walls risingfrom the respective sides of the base and interconnected along theirrespective adjoining vertical edges, a vertical center post risingmedially from said base and terminating coincident with the upper end ofsaid side walls, vertical partitions extending between said center postand said side walls and combining therewith to divide said bin into aplurality of compartments substantially triangular shaped adapted toreceive said garment hangers, said partitions being coextensive Withsaid side Walls, an axially Vertical guide rod in each compartment andpositioned therein and adapted to engage in the hook element of saidgarment hanger when said opposed ends of said hanger are substantiallyenga ing spaced opposing recesses in each of said compartments, saidguide rod rising from said base and extending above said center post,and vertically extending strips attached to and coextensive with saidcenter post, said strips extending toward said guide rods to definetherealong vertically extended slots in which a portion of each hookelement may be inserted.

4. A portable bin for storing and displaying garment hangers havingopposed ends and a hook member medially of such ends comprising asubstantially horizontal rectangular base, interconnected vertical sidewalls rising from said base, diagonal vertical partitions extendingbetween said side walls and combining therewith to divide the bin into aplurality of substantially triangular shaped open top compartments withopposing recesses therein adapted to receive said opposed ends oi thehanger, a vertical guide rod in the 6 other corner of each of saidcompartments adapted to be engaged by said hook member of the hanger,said walls and partitions and said guide rod cooperating in eachcompartment to retain a plurality of said garment hangers in avertically aligned stack when in the compartment.

5. A portable unit for storing and displaying garment hangers havingopposed ends and a hook member medially of such ends comprising an opentop compartment, a vertical guide rod in said compartment, arranged tobe engaged by the hook member of the hanger, opposing receiving membersin said compartment spaced from each other and from said guide rod, saidreceiving members adapted to engage said opposed ends of the hanger whenthe hook of said hanger is operatively engaged with said guide rod, andvertically extending means in juxtaposition to said guide rod forcooperating therewith to retain the hook member against transversedisplacement on the rod.

JOHN C. BURT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

